Automatic locking device



G.GEDHAH`D. v AuToMATic LOCKING DEVICE.

' APPLICATION FILED AUG-12, |9207 y 11,378,447.

Patented May 17, 1921.

[Ill/[11071111111 vlavll/nvlllllllllI/lllllllllll Umts srar CONRADGEBHARD, 0F MUNICI-I, GERMANY, ASSIGNOR TO ASFAG" AKTIEN- GESELLSCHAFT,0F GLARUS, SWITZERLAND.

AUTOMATIC LOCKING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

rammed. May 17, 1921.

Application filed August 12, 1920. Serial 110.403,163.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, CONRAD GERHARD, a citizen of the Republic ofGermany, residing at Munich, lTegernseerlandstrasse 135, Germany, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic LockingDevices; and I do hereby declare the following to be a clear, full, andexact description of the invention, suchl as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawing, and to letters or figures of.reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Several constructions of automatic locks whichv are actuated bytheclosing of the door are already known particularly in railway-cars andother vehicles.

Locks of this ltype are provided with a bolt influenced by the closingspring, which bolt is secured in the openand closedeposition by alocking lever which can be released either by hand or by closing thedoor.

rlhe -present invention relates to that type of locks but it differsessentially from the known locks by its lsimpler. construction, cheapercost ofmanufacture and by its more reliable manner of working.

An essential feature of the invention consists in the provision of areleasing member which canV be raised by means of atappet or latch toactuate the locking lever securing the bolt. The end of the lockinglever projects beyond the end face of the lock casing, in a knownmanner, into the path of a vertically displaceable gliding member in thekeeper. This gliding member has an inclined face that yieldingly engagesthe end of the locking lever when the door is being opened but when thedoor is being closed the gliding member Vis in fixed position and causesa displacement of the locking lever and: a release of' the bolt. Thedifferent parts are in'such an operative engagement with each other thatthe lever locking the bolt may belifted by operating thetappet by handwhen the door is being opened or I automatically by means of the guidepiece when the door is being shut.

A preferred e form of the invention is shown on the accompanyingdrawing, on which:

Figure 1 shows a lock in front elevation, the cover plate being removed;

Fig. 2 is an end view of the keeper;

Fig. is a section alongy line A-B of Fig. l;

Fig. 4 shows the lock in the bolted .posi-- lever e is mounted on pivotd, and rests v against the base plate y of the lock. ySaid lever isfitted with a lug g, which according to the position of the bolt ispressed into notches z', 7a of the bolt a by the action of a spring h onsaid locking lever. rIhe upper edge of the bolt between the notches 11and lo is beveled. Av releasingV member Z, mv abuts against the lug g ofthe locking lever, the vertical shank Z being guided in guide plates nand o fitted to the base plate 'f of the lock. Below the locking end bof the bolt a; a lug p, which may be actuated by hand for instance byVmeans of a latch, is turnably mounted, and can be brought intoengagement with a projecting part g of the bolt a', Zr through whichengagement the bolt a, b is moved in the direction of the arrow and thelock unbolted. The lug p is influenced by a spring 7 and is providedwith a side with a vertically movable gliding member w guided in a slotl of the keeper and projects outside the latter forming a stop m whichis arranged at an angle to the vertical. The stem y of the glidingmember lw is influenced by a spring e which normally holds the stop inthe path of the part u.

The manner of operation ofthe lock is as follows In the'position shownin Fig. 1 the frontv part' `of the bolt is free-of the keeper o so thatthe door may be opened by turning it out. The gliding member m which issituated behind the end u of the locking lever e (as is shown in Fig. 2in chain-dotted lines) rection, in consequence of the obliquearrangement of said engaging parts into the position shown inchain-dotted lines in Fig.l

2, in which position the part u of the locking lever c is permitted topass below the gliding member and the door can be opened, whereupon thegliding member is brought back into its normal position 'by the actionoi" the spring.

Assuming now the open door to be closed, the part u is brought intoengagement with the member Jfrom the opposite side. The latter partrests on the lowerend of slot l and'cannot yield, therefore the obliquepart a of the locking lever glides along the obliqueiace of Amember sawhereby the locking lever e is lifted against the action of the springit until it is tree of member x. As soon as this occurs, the lockinglever c is lifted to such an extent, that its lug g disengages the notchZ3 (this position of the locking lever is shown in chain-dotted lines inFig. l), whereupon the bolt a is driven into engagement with the keeper'by the action of spring c and the lock and the door is bolted, whichposition'is shown in Fig. 4C.

The locking lever e is then pressed downward by means of the spring 7Land the lug g comes into engagement with the notchy z', whereby the boltis secured against carrying out an undesired unlocking movement. Thespring r at the same time turns the tappet 79 into its proper engagingposition.' In order to unbolt the lock and open the door the tappet 79isv turned in the direction oit' the arrow indicated in Fig. t that isin an anticlockwise direction, by means of a handle or a trigger locatedon the inside or outside of the door. In consequence of this turningmotion the projecting part s of the tappet which rests against the shankm of the releasing member lifts the latter. The vertical shank Z`presses the lug f/ of the locking lever which is in the notch cf in anupward direction until the notch is disengaged. Upon a further turningof thetappet the latter comes into engagement with the edge (I of thebolt, whereby the bolt is pushed back in the direction of the arrowshown in Fig. l and is thus drawnout of the keeper, the lug g glidesalong the oblique face 2 which connects Ithe twovnotches z', 7c. As soonas the bolt is pushed back far enough for the lug g to leave the obliquesurface 2, the lug snaps into the notch k, the tightened spring r turnsthe tappet ,19 back and all the parts are in Fig. 1.

The locking lever which can be brought out of engagement by closing thedoor as well as by hand by actuating the tappet secures the `bolted lockreliably againstv any undesirable openingy caused by the vibration ofthe vehicle, as the bolt which is inserted deeply into the keeper cannotleave the latter for these reasons. The locking lever may be so adjustedthat only a slight pressure c'. c. -a very gentle closing of `the doorcauses its disengagement. The lock is of a fiat shape so that it doesnot take up much room nor requires large recesses on the door.

I claim:

l. An automatic locking device, comprising a spring actuated abolthaving notches formed therein, a keeper, a spring actuated locking leveradapted to engage said notches the end of said lever projecting beyondthe end cover of the lock in the direction ofthe keeper, a spring urgedtappet pivotally mounted on the base plate of the lock and adapted to beturned `to cause a withdrawal of the bolt from the keeper, a releasingmem- Y ber interposed between the tappet and the lever for releasing thelatter upon a turning ofthe tappet, and a .member arranged in the keeperadapted to be brought into yielding engagement with said projecting endof the lever when the door is being opened, and acte ing as a fixedguiding face which engages the end of the locking lever and releases thebolt when the door is being shut.

2. An automatic locking device, comprising a .spring actuated bolthaving notches formed therein, a keeper, a spring actuated locking leveradapted to engage saidnotches, the end of said lever projecting beyondthe lock casing in the direction of the keeper,

and provided with a face arrangedobliquelyengagement with the bolt upona turning of the tappet, and a vertically displaceable member having aninclined face in `the path of the oblique end of the locking lever anddisplaced by the latter in a vertical direc-r tion when the door isbeing opened and acting as a fixed guide tace over which theface of thelocking lever glides, whereby the latter is lifted and the'bolt releasedwhen the door is being shut.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have signedmy name.

CONRAD GEBHARD,

